Midnight Craving: Midnight Vice, Book 1 (8 page)

Isla squirmed and shuddered. He recognized the almost-there expression on her face.

Cackling, Renata took away her hand and watched Isla convulse again. Pink foam erupted from Isla’s

lips. Only the gun at his temple kept him in place. He couldn’t get to Isla before the vampire pulled the

trigger. Never before in his life had Jace felt so completely worthless and impotent.

“You know,” Renata said pensively, “I don’t think I’ll kill her after all. What say you, Reynard?”

The vampire holding Jace hostage shrugged. “Whatever pleases my mistress.”

Renata’s lips curved in an indulgent smile. “She’s tenacious. I could use someone like that in my

immortal guard.”

Oh, God, no
.

“Isla,” Renata soothingly murmured. “Come to me, my darling. Let me deliver you from your misery.”

As if entranced, Isla sat up, her head lolling a bit, and slowly rolled up and onto her feet. Like a zombie,

she staggered first to the left and then to the right before regaining her balance. The foamy bubbles dribbled

down her chin. Her pupils seemed incredibly dilated. Her hands hung limply at her sides.

“Yes, my love,” Renata whispered. “That’s it. Come to me. Into my arms.” Isla moved into Renata’s

embrace. “Yes, my pet.”

When Renata swept aside Isla’s hair and bared her neck, Jace struggled to reclaim his voice. His lips

moved but no sound issued forth. Determined, he went through the movements of shouting again and again

until finally a whisper left his throat. He kept at it, repeating Isla’s name over and over, his voice growing

louder in the tiniest of increments. “Isla!”

Her name burst forth as if the righteous fury of Heaven were behind it. Isla’s unfocused gaze moved to

his face. He saw the briefest flash of recognition. “Isla! Wake up! Isla!”

Renata’s face contorted with irritation. Fangs bared, she turned back to her prey. In a handful of

seconds, Isla would be yet another of Renata’s mindless minions, her every move controlled by the

vampiress’ whims.

“Isla! Baby…” At any other time, Jace would have been embarrassed by the begging tone of his voice.

As it was, he stood completely at a loss. If only she could hear him. If only she’d wake up from the

trance…

The entire room seemed to slip into slow-motion as Renata’s fangs drew precariously close to Isla’s

neck. Renata’s hands shifted Isla’s head just enough for Jace to get a glimpse of Isla’s eyes. His gut

clenched at the sight of the total blackness covering her entire eye. She’d been consumed by her demon

side. The tiniest smile quirked her lips.
What the fuck?

Isla’s hands moved so quickly he barely registered the movement. One second, her right hand was

under her shirt and the next it was on Renata’s chest. Renata jerked and her jaw dropped in shock.

Shrieking like a banshee, she stumbled away from Isla.

Jace’s eyes widened at the unexpected sight of a pair of syringes sticking out of Renata’s heart. The

smoke billowing from her body led him to the only conclusion possible. Isla had just stabbed her with

some kind of mixture of garlic and holy water.

Jace’s memories raced back to their tryst in Isla’s car. What had he felt then? Ridges under her tee?

She’d had them strapped to her stomach all along.
Clever girl…

Latching onto the element of surprise, Jace employed a rather tricky move to free himself from

Reynard. He slapped away Reynard’s wrist while simultaneously turning into his opponent. With a quick

twist, he wrenched free his gun but really it was unnecessary. As Renata burst into flames, she took all of

her sired vampires with her, including Reynard.

Whatever Jace had been expecting, it wasn’t even remotely close to the ungodly fireball Renata became.

In that millisecond of watching Renata explode, Jace thought he was going to die. And then Isla’s arms

were wrapped around him, her demonic powers shielding him from the scorching heat. As if punched in

the gut, all breath left his body. The near instantaneous shock of heat and cold forced him to suck in a

shaky breath just before his back slammed into something hard, cold, and metal.

Blinking, Jace stared up through the waves of black hair to an inky sky scattered with stars. They were

outside, on the hood of Isla’s car. They were alive. His arms tightened around her shoulders. She

shuddered against him. Hot tears splashed his neck.

Almost frantic, he clasped Isla’s face so he could see her eyes. They’d returned to their usual violet.

Relieved, he brushed away the hair clinging to her teary face and wiped away the pinkish foam on her chin.

He then kissed her more passionately than he ever had. In that moment, he desperately needed Isla to know

just how much she meant to him and just how terrified he’d been of losing her. Isla’s hands gripped the

front of his shirt as she held onto him, obviously unwilling to end the kiss either.

Only the approaching sirens blaring in the distance forced them to separate. Not wanting to deal with all

the legal bullshit that was sure to ensue, Jace rolled off the hood and dragged Isla with him. He slipped his

hand into her jeans pocket and fished out her keys. Rather quickly, he shuffled her into the passenger seat

and strapped himself into the driver’s side. Pedal to the metal, he fled the scene. Her hand drifted toward

his, her fingers intertwining with his over the gearshift knob. Jace wasn’t sure where he was going so he

kept driving.

“Over there.” Isla pointed to a darkened loading and unloading lane behind a strip of closed boutiques.

Like most places in the Woodlands, the stores were surrounded by pine trees and other shrubbery to give

them an upscale and elegant air. More importantly, all that dense greenery would completely hide them

from prying eyes.

He’d barely killed the lights and engine when Isla pounced on him. Gripping his stubbled cheeks, she

claimed his mouth with a hungry kiss. She tried to straddle his hips but the steering wheel prevented it.

With a little maneuvering, Jace managed to slide over to the passenger seat. Isla planted her knees on either

side of him and rocked her hips against him as she kicked off her shoes.

Jace knew their coupling wouldn’t be particularly pretty or gentle but he could have cared less. The

rush of living, of having survived, overwhelmed him at that moment. He needed to feel Isla’s hot skin

against his, needed to bury his cock inside her as reassurance that she was really alive and there with him.

They were all fingers and hands and tongues as they unzipped their pants and shoved aside

undergarments. Isla’s pants were trickiest of all and took a few laughable attempts of leg straightening and

weight shifting before they were whisked free of her body and dropped on the floorboard. Her pussy

dripped silken heat as she held the base of his cock and lowered herself onto him. Jace couldn’t remember

ever being so hard. He bit his lip at the sensation of her wet cunt closing around him in the most intimate of

embraces.

Eyes closed, Isla sat completely still for a long moment, as if savoring the feeling of their joined bodies.

He caressed her face, careful of the already scabbing slit in her cheek. Her lower lip looked fat, probably

from a self-inflicted bite wound during her seizure. Jace kissed her gently then, cautious of causing more

harm. Isla’s hands drifted over his stubbled head as their mouths mated. When she moved up and down,

Jace’s stomach flip-flopped. It just felt so good.

Her lips ghosted against his cheek as she rode him hard and fast. “I don’t need much.”

“That’s all right.” His words were grunted as he tried to keep himself in check. “Me either.”

Isla captured his mouth again. Like a belly dancer, she flicked her hips back and forth and in tight

circles. She ground her clit against his pelvis. He cupped her ass, squeezing the firm cheeks and aiding in

her forceful movements. Her lips separated from his by the barest of millimeters. Tiny pants buffeted his

wet lips. He tightened his grip on her backside and snapped his hips, rising up out of the seat to meet her

rocking motions. Lust exploded within him. Hunger for her filled him.

Her fingernails bit into his neck as she went wild on his cock. The car bounced as they both sought the

highest peaks of ecstasy. Jace couldn’t breathe as he came, his eyes clamped shut as he slammed his cock

balls deep. Isla’s thighs gripped him, holding him there, just there, as she milked the last glorious sensation.

Breathless and clutching, they pressed their foreheads together. Isla was the first to laugh, a tiny giggle

bubbling from her throat. Slowly it evolved into the deepest belly laugh he’d ever heard escape her lips.

Unable to stop himself, he joined her raucous and nearly hysterical laughter. After everything they’d been

through, it just felt right to laugh his ass off.

When they quieted some time later, Isla draped across his lap, her head on his shoulder. His hands

sifting through her hair, Jace wondered if this was the last time he’d ever be this happy again. With a thud,

he realized he really did love her. Earlier, in the wine cellar, he’d experienced that moment of clarity. Now

there was no question. This wasn’t lust or infatuation. No, this was beyond anything he’d ever imagined he

could feel. In such a short time, she’d captured his heart so completely, he didn’t know if there was ever

any hope of freeing himself from her clutches.

He suddenly understood why he’d never been able to shake his attraction to her even after his immunity

to her succubus blood should have protected him. It hadn’t ever been the demonic allure. It was all Isla, all

along. They were obviously meant for one another.

And he couldn’t keep her.

The curse would filter out of her body by morning, and she’d cast him aside as she had every other man

he’d seen her date. There was only one thing to do—push her aside first and save whatever scraps of his

dignity and sanity he could.

Standing in the hallway outside Jace’s apartment, Isla wondered what the hell she was doing. After nine

excruciating days of separation, she just couldn’t take it anymore.
But what the hell am I supposed to say

when he answers? Oh, hey, just wondering if you felt anything for me at all?

Isla rolled her eyes and wiped her hand down her face.
It shouldn’t be this difficult.

Her heart clenched as she thought of how many times over the last week she’d hoped to see his number

on her caller ID or his face on the other side of her door. After their last tryst in her car, they’d been called

in for a debriefing. The higher-ups were none too pleased by the fact they’d burned down a mansion in one

of the ritziest places in town. There were going to be a lot of nosy journalists and questions from people

with enough money and pull in the Greater Houston area to make life for Midnight Vice a whole hell of a

lot harder.

Always the standup guy, Jace had taken full responsibility for the whole mess. He’d insisted he’d been

responsible for Isla’s cursing and everything that followed. Isla had tried to intervene but there was no

swaying Jace. She’d been given one week of medical leave without pay. Jace had taken a one week

suspension without pay but had escaped the review board. For that Isla was eternally grateful. If he’d lost

his job for her, she didn’t know if she’d have ever forgiven herself.

Jace hadn’t seemed too terribly upset when they’d parted that night so why hadn’t he called? At the very

least, Isla had expected a general sort of welfare check. Yet day after day, night after night, Jace had

completely avoided any contact with her. The idea that he found it so easy to cast her aside after the intense

day and night they’d shared hurt more deeply than she ever cared to admit.

Yes, the sex was beyond amazing, but to Isla it had been so much more than that. For the first time in

her life, she’d felt secure. Whether he knew it or not, Jace had offered a promise of normalcy that she’d so

longed for all these years. Most importantly that spark between them was undeniable. It was more than lust.

It was something real, something so few people ever found. She refused to let it just slip through her

fingers now.

Obviously Jace’s total silence was some sort of message and yet here she was, standing on his doorstep,

hands trembling, throat tightening, eyes threatening to spill tears. Isla had tried to convince herself that

passionate, frantic quickie in the car had been the result of the last remnants of the curse working its way

through her system, but she knew differently. She’d wanted Jace of her own volition. She’d craved him so

desperately, she felt as if she might have died if he’d turned her down. And he hadn’t. He’d taken her

willingly, right there on the front seat of her Chevelle.